Kukup Adventures 18 & 19 Jun 2015

After the SEA Games, I’m sure we deserve a break, we had a few days of leave and off which sums up to about one week. Not long enough to go anywhere far, like my favourite place – Seoul. Still, we are able to have a short get away to Kukup. This is a trip with my platoon mates, so all of us are army boys. It just costs $98 for 2D1N and I could describe how worth it is. Especially the Karaoke system they have it in-built in the home itself.

We had private van to fetch us from Woodlands all the way through the checkpoint and then till the ferry terminal, where we stopped and grab some snacks and drinks, had our sumptuous lunch and then board the ferry. The moment we stepped our of the van, it was uneasy. It smelled like stinky shit, likely due to the polluted waters and the minerals and junk in the sea. We could really use some toxic mask at first, like the ones we used for chemical defence mission in army to filter out the toxic gases. The sea water was so polluted in appeared brownish in colour. When we reach the home stay destination, it is even more ‘amazing’.

Our first meal at Malaysia. Kukup is actually a island, at the Pontian area. I only knew Pontian from the Pontian Wanton Noodles. Such fail being a half Malaysian blood boy. There was still crab and fish which I didn’t manage to take a picture of. They already look delicious enough here.

Boarded the ferry around noon time. The ferry went past a reserve which look like the mangroves reserve that people have a board and paddle through the lake as I recalled seeing on Discovery Channel. Unfortunately, our trip was too short to go there, maybe if it was a 3D2N stay it would have be possible. In total, it was a 10 minutes ride to the resort area, where 2 girls shouted in Chinese saying the “11 people one”. Telling us to alight. At first we were lost as our guide did not board the ferry, we were wondering how or where are we supposed to alight. Thankfully, the uneasiness was lifted then.

We arrived and went straight into our rooms. There we a total of 3 rooms and it could accommodate up to 10 people in each room. There were 3 toilets in total. The place was really well furnished, air-conditioned entirely and the floor tiles are as dust-free as the ones in my house. At the end of the kitchen there is a door the leads to nowhere. Just a artistic picture where you can directly meet nature, the mangrove roots piercing up through the mud. Imagine having a dip in the dirt.

There was a Karaoke room in the living room, separated by transparent glass windows and door. We went on to sing for 3 hours, with music that were really old school. The newest songs were probably Lady Gaga’s Alejandro. You can expect to sing those songs that were popular during primary school days.

After relentless vocal performances, we got really bored and decide to went out for a #explorekukup session with some of them. The weather over there is really crazy, the sun is scorching hot like a virtual toaster that burns your skin. It unbearable, luckily I was geared up for this. Sunblocks, shades is a must.

Since the place was built on mud or you can also say sea, the ground is made of planks which are supported by the poles planted into the sea bed. The truth about these planks is that they carry a certain level of fear factor. Some of them are already chipping off and you can feel it being shaky. On the contrary, it gives a sense of excitement when crossing over on these planks, it gives the adrenaline just like how they come into place during a rollercoaster ride. Simply thrilling.

After the cheap thrills we had from taking on each other challenges, as well as searching for some lights and spots to take our hipster pictures, we went back to get some air-con to cool down. We really got enough of the singing and we gathered at the living room for some card games. We played ‘Murder’ which consist of roles such as the Wolf, Detective, Little Girl, Witch and Village Bobo. It was really fun trying the fool and outplay one another. Then it comes dinner, we had a ready made BBQ feast. Oh, I forgot to mention, they provide tea break, breakfast and even supper! That is one of the reason why I think it is value for money!

We went back to the room and shower after a long day. Look at Ericsson having his cozy moment. Relevant hashtags: #teamcozy #wesocozy #cozyatkukup

Some of them went fishing and others played Mahjong in the living room. I got to sit beside and learn how the experienced pros especially Jonas play. I think its a good thing to learn, we just got to keep learning new things in life right? I need to go back Singapore and practice my Mahjong skills for sure.

Farmer Model: @garygoh

There comes the last day. We had Nasi Lemak and Fried Mee Siam for breakfast. We dropped by the KAELONG (whatever way it is spelled, I know I do it the korean way), to have a tour, hoping to see some fish in some fish nets and get savage some souvenir to bring back home.